The best I ever did was 12:15 for 2 miles while in Saudi Arabia, it was a flat straight 2 miles and with zero humidity in the air running was easy. My normal running time for 2 miles was 14:10-14:25 and this was considered pretty good by military standards. What I find amusing is that 14 minutes is 1:54 faster than what they want a highly conditioned soldier to run 2 miles in (see chart for 17-21 years olds). Last time I ran 2 miles I was 29 years old and ran it in 17 minutes which was just passing for my age. You should take this little chart in and try and strike a deal with them. Tell them that if a trained soldier in excellent shape isn’t required to do it in 14 why should you. you may also want to point out that the reason there is a range for scores is because some people just aren’t physically able to run fast, is was in that category, I had 8-11% body fat could max Push-up and Sit-ups but damn it I could not run fast, but just fast enough.

One more thought sprints would be a much better fitness test for a tennis player.

One more thought sprints would be a much better fitness test for a tennis player.

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Thanks for the feedback. I believe sprints are necessary, but since sprinting is not really a problem here (most people that are trying out can run 11.5-13.5 seconds for 100 meter dashes, which is blazing fast).

PFS, It seems like the pushups/situps exams nowadays don't have time limits. That's maybe just our school though.

Skihard
How long do you get to do the situps and pushups in? Or is it just until you can't go anymore?

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You have 2 minutes for push-ups, up to 10 minutes to rest before doing 2 minutes of sit-up, up to 10 minutes of rest before doing the 2 mile run. A complete PFT should not take longer than 40 minutes start to finish.

You have 2 minutes for push-ups, up to 10 minutes to rest before doing 2 minutes of sit-up, up to 10 minutes of rest before doing the 2 mile run. A complete PFT should not take longer than 40 minutes start to finish.

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Damn!

Here was me thinking I would have gotten 300 aged 18 (*cries over lost youth*).

With the time limits it'd have been closer to 280. Not bad, but would have been cool to have gotten 100%

Here was me thinking I would have gotten 300 aged 18 (*cries over lost youth*).

With the time limits it'd have been closer to 280. Not bad, but would have been cool to have gotten 100%

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a 280+ gets you a patch that you can put on your PT uniform saying you have achieved fitness excellence. I have one someplace, but never put it on because it was a standard I didn't want to live up to every 6 months.

a 280+ gets you a patch that you can put on your PT uniform saying you have achieved fitness excellence. I have one someplace, but never put it on because it was a standard I didn't want to live up to every 6 months.

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Awesome!

Congrats too. I can understand not wanting to put it on, because you know one day you'll fail the test - eventually and have to take it off. Which to me would be kinda worse than not having it on in the first place.

Sorry about hijacking btw. Personally I have no idea why the coach would put this fitness test in. Or any fitness test for that matter. The only reasonable way to select people for skill sports is to have playoffs or a ladder.

To an extent fitness is not that important for skill sports. Good skill >> Good fitness. A well skilled player can make a fit player run all over the place without having to do a damned thing themselves. And the only way to determine that is by having the tryouts compete against each other.

The most troublesome one is running 2 miles in 14 minutes, thats about sub 7 miles.

May I ask you people your average mile times, that is, if you ever tested it?

And any advice as to how I can increase my time (I currently have a crap dipped 8:30 as a time for just one mile, let alone two), within the next few weeks?

Thanks a lot.

:thumbsup:

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Well, welcome back! I don't remember seeing you around, so it must have been before my time.

Anyway, in regards to your question. Exactly how much time do you have before tryouts? And if you don't make this time, you won't make the team?

I'm 23 years old now, and I'm over 3 years removed from my athletic experience in college; however, I consistenly do cardio workouts, and I'm sure I could still run two miles in under 14 minutes. And I'm sure you can too, with some work and dedication.

Here's my advice.

First, alternate your workouts. That is, don't just run two miles everyday hoping to decrease your time.
An example would look like this:
Monday: run 1 mile as fast as you possibly can. This will help you get your speed up.
Tuesday: run 3 miles, but focus your speed on the last mile. This will boost endurance, while helping you with your speed on the last mile.
Wednesday: run 2 miles as if it were tryouts. See what your time is.
Thursday: go back to running one miles, as you've spent a lot of energy the past few days.
Friday: take a day off.
Saturday-Sunday: Do some running on each of these days, at whatever pace and distance you feel comfortable. I would recommend doing something more than two miles, but not worrying too much about speed. Endurance should be the focus of these days.

Now, mind you, I'm not an expert, but this is what I've done in the past in my experiences with basketball and track.

Well, welcome back! I don't remember seeing you around, so it must have been before my time.

Anyway, in regards to your question. Exactly how much time do you have before tryouts? And if you don't make this time, you won't make the team?

I'm 23 years old now, and I'm over 3 years removed from my athletic experience in college; however, I consistenly do cardio workouts, and I'm sure I could still run two miles in under 14 minutes. And I'm sure you can too, with some work and dedication.

Here's my advice.

First, alternate your workouts. That is, don't just run two miles everyday hoping to decrease your time.
An example would look like this:
Monday: run 1 mile as fast as you possibly can. This will help you get your speed up.
Tuesday: run 3 miles, but focus your speed on the last mile. This will boost endurance, while helping you with your speed on the last mile.
Wednesday: run 2 miles as if it were tryouts. See what your time is.
Thursday: go back to running one miles, as you've spent a lot of energy the past few days.
Friday: take a day off.
Saturday-Sunday: Do some running on each of these days, at whatever pace and distance you feel comfortable. I would recommend doing something more than two miles, but not worrying too much about speed. Endurance should be the focus of these days.

Now, mind you, I'm not an expert, but this is what I've done in the past in my experiences with basketball and track.

For soccer in high school we had to do 2 miles in 12 minutes. I finished in 14 but I was the goal keeper so they let me on anyway.

Your coaches probably figure that if you're fit enough to run a fast 2 miles (not really a major endurance test anyway) you'll have what it takes to perform at a high level for an entire match. Tennis matches are long and your explosiveness has to endure. If they wanted you to run 6 miles, that would be excessive, but running hard for 12 minutes seems to be a good test of strength and speed.

To train for the test, I'd run 3-4 miles 4 times a week and one 2-mile sprint a week for several weeks, but you might not have that kind of time.